History of Azeroth, Part I

This is meant to be a helpful reference in explaining the history of the world of Azeroth before the immediate story takes place. It has been condensed from the history found on the World of Warcraft website. This is an abridgment meant to give you, the reader, the essentials. For the full version of the history, go here. (Note: All images are taken from wowwiki.com. Some are recognized by Blizzard as official, some are not. All credit for the images goes to the creators of said images, and I recieve no profit or gain whatsoever from them, except help in telling my story)

Azeroth as it appears today -taken from wowwiki.com

The world of Azeroth was discovered milennia ago by a race of god-like beings known as the Titans. Azeroth was disorganised, and the Titans sought to fashion and shape and order the world. Several races were empowered to help the Titans in their task. The dwarvish Earthen were formed from living stone and used to carve out the deep places of the world. The Titans created sea giants, massive and immense, to seperate the waters and raise land from the sea floor to form a single continent. A massive lake of powerful energies lay at the center of this great continent: the Well of Eternity. It became the fountain of life and growth for the world. As the ages passed, all manner of plants, animal life and creatures of every kind grew and flourished on the world. The Titans named their great continent Kalimdor: "land of eternal starlight".

Ten thousand years before the Horde first came and waged war against the inhabitants of Azeroth, a race of beings emerged from the primordial roots near the Well. Strengthened by the Well's energies, they became strong and essentially immortal. They called themselves the Kaldorei, meaning "children of the stars." They worshipped the moon and studied the Well with great curiosity. They developed a strong connection with nature and a powerful empathy for the living forests of Kalimdor.

Night Elves -from wowwiki.com

With time, the Kaldorei, or night elves as they would later be known, grew into a massive civilization. Their queen, a gifted and beautiful elf named Azhsara, ordered her favored servants, called the Quel'dorei ("Highborne") to find out everything they could about the Well of Eternity, its power and purpose. As the Highborne learned more, their power grew, and they eventually developed the ability to control the energies of the Well. They learned to use their new abilities to create or destroy at will. They had indeed stumbled upon primitive and arcane magic, both powerful and potentially unstable. They practiced their new magic recklessly, and began to be corrupted by it.


The arcane energies so carelessly used by the Highborne sent out ripples from the Well, ripples which were felt across the universe by beings great and terrible. The worst of these, Sargeras, was a fallen Titan who had become corrupted by the evil which he had fought against for so long. He had created an immense army of monsters and demons, and called it the Burning Legion. The Legion was hellbent on conquering everything in the Universe that lay in their path.



Sargeras' interest was drawn to Azeroth by the Highborne's magic, and he hungered for the powers and energy of the Well of Eternity. He gathered his Burning Legion together and made his way to Azeroth. Weakened by her misuse of magic, the night elf queen succumbed to Sargeras' power and granted him entrance to the world. She and her Hignborne opened a portal within the Well of Eternity to allow entry to the Legion. Countless demons and fel beasts stormed into Azeroth and laid seige to the night elves. Wherever the Legion went, only dust and ash and misery in its wake. The Kaldorei defended their home with courage and bravery, but slowly began to give way before the mighty Legion.

The Burning Legion -from wowwiki.com

A powerful druid named Malfurion Stormrage sought help for his beleaguered people. He looked for help from the powerful demigod Cenarius in the sacred moonglades of Mount Hyjal. Cenarius rallied a mighty army of dragons, spirits of the enchanted Kalimdor forests, and ancient tree-men and led them against the Legion in a daring ground assault. All-out battle broke out on the shores of the Well of Eternity. The revitalized elf armies fought the Legion with great veracity, but strength alone would not win the war. Malfurion, realizing this and also understanding that the Well of Eternity was the demons' link to Azeroth, became convinced that the well had to be destroyed. Sargeras himself was quickly aapproaching the portal, and if he made it through, all was lost. His allies were greatly concerned by his thoughts, since their immortality and power were linked to the Well. But they had to admit Malfurion's wisdom- they had to find a way to shut down the Well.

Illidan the Betrayer -from wowwiki.com

The Highborne found out of Malfurion's plan from his traitorous brother, Illidan, who knew that the Well's destruction meant that his addiction to magic would be severed. When Malfurion and his allies stormed the Highborne temple, they found the wicked elves in the middle of an incantation that would allow Sargeras to enter the world. The Highborne, thanks to Illidan's warning, were ready for the intruders. Nearly all of Malfurion's followers were killed from the outset. The druid's lover, Tyrande, fell to Azhsara's guards, seriously wounded but alive. Malfurion went into a rage and engaged Azhsara in mortal combat.

The fierce battle sent the portal into chaos, and the vortex exploded. The massive blast caused the very earth to quake and rend itself, and the raging Well of Eternity to collapse in on itself. The earth was shattered and the sky darkened. The mighty Azeroth seas rushed in and filled the gaping chasms left by the explosion. Kalimdor had lost almost four-fifths of its mass to the catastrophe; where once had been one great continent, now only a few smaller continents and a handful of islands remained. In the midst of them, where the Well of Eternity had once been, a great Malestrom of tidal fury and energy swirled and raged.

The Great Sundering -from wowwiki.com

Some of the Highborne survived, but were transformed into the hideous Naga, fould creatures of the deep. Others, along with the surviving night elves, made their way on the seas toward the nearest landmass, which turned out to be the western-most continent on the new face of Azeroth. This land they named Kalimdor, after their home of old.